Editing Offa's Dyke (section)

==Current==
[[File:Offa's Dyke Centre 2008.jpg|thumb|200px|Offa's Dyke Centre at [[Knighton, Powys]]]]The [[England–Wales border]] still mostly passes within a few miles of the course of Offa's Dyke through the [[Welsh Marches]]. The dyke has a cultural significance symbolising the separation between England and Wales: a symbolism similar to Hadrian's Wall between England and Scotland in the [[Scottish Marches]]. [[George Borrow]], in his ''[[Wild Wales]]'' (1862), drawn from folklore, claimed that:

{{Blockquote|[It] was customary for the English to cut off the ears of every Welshman who was found to the east of the dyke, and for the Welsh to hang every Englishman whom they found to the west of it.}}A {{convert|3|mi|adj=on}} section of the dyke which overlooks [[Tintern Abbey]] and includes the Devil's Pulpit near [[Chepstow]] is now managed by [[English Heritage]]. All sections of Offa's Dyke that survive as visible earthworks, or as infilled but undeveloped ditch, are designated as a [[scheduled monument]]. However, some parts of the dyke may also remain buried under later development.<ref name="heritage">[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/78278/WHAF_Offa_s_Dyke.pdf "UK Tentative List of Potential Sites for World Heritage Nomination: Application form: Offa's Dyke",  Department for Culture, Media and Sport]. Retrieved 3 August 2014</ref> Some sections are also defined as [[Sites of Special Scientific Interest]], including stretches within the [[Lower Wye Valley SSSI]] and the [[Highbury Wood]] [[national nature reserve (United Kingdom)|National Nature Reserve]].  Parts are located within the [[Wye Valley]] and [[Shropshire Hills]] [[Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty]].  Most of the line of Offa's Dyke is designated as a [[Rights of way in England and Wales|public right of way]], including those sections which form part of the Offa's Dyke Path.<ref name="heritage" />

In August 2013, a {{convert|45|m|adj=on}} section of dyke, between Chirk and [[Llangollen]], was destroyed by a local landowner. The destruction of the dyke to build a stable was said to be like "driving a road through [[Stonehenge]]", but the perpetrator escaped punishment.<ref>{{cite news|date=4 June 2014|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/allowed-bulldoze-offas-dyke-because-7214632|title= Allowed to bulldoze Offa's Dyke... because he claimed didn't know it was there!|publisher= [[Wales Online]]}}</ref>

The Offa's Dyke Centre is a purpose-built information centre in the town of [[Knighton, Powys|Knighton]], on Offa's Dyke on the border between England ([[Shropshire]]) and [[Wales]] ([[Powys]]). Some of the best remains of the earthworks can be seen within a two-minute walk from the centre. The Offa's Dyke Path (Welsh: ''Llwybr Clawdd Offa'') is a long-distance footpath close to the England–Wales border.  Although large sections are close to the dyke, the path is longer and in some places passes at some distance from the earthworks. Opened in 1971, the path is one of Britain's longest national trails, stretching for {{convert|283|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the [[Severn estuary]] at [[Sedbury]], near [[Chepstow]], to [[Prestatyn]] on the north Wales coast.<ref>{{cite web | title=Offa's Dyke Path|url=http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/offasdyke/| access-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitwales.com/things-do/attractions|title=Attractions|website=VisitWales}}</ref>